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Author
Topic: Experts confident of HIV cure (Read 5554 times)

This is the kind of news I like to hear and it just reinforces my gut feeling that the scientists are getting closer and they know it can be done. In similar articles, this woman has indicated that she feels a cure is within 5 to 10 years away.

If a cure were announced in my lifetime I think I would just break down and cry for myself, for all the people who came before me and for all the people who would be spared. Eventually the medicine will catch the virus, it's just a matter of time, money, and effort.

I agree what is new is the secure feeling that if current HAART is so great at stopping replication, then a working cure that drains reservoirs and/or creates natural sustained immune response without HAART is the proper focus of the next stage.

Logged

“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

I know exactly how you feel, but what is inspiring about your link and others referencing Lewin's keynote address is that "A cure for HIV infection is scientifically feasible and increasingly necessary, but the goal requires focus and funding, said Sharon Lewin of Monash University in Melbourne, in a keynote address at the opening session of the AIDS 2010 conference and at a preceding workshop organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS)."

My take on the limits of research these days seems to be in getting adequate funding into the hands of the researchers who need it (not to mention the dollars needed to fund the ADAP lists). Having just spent a week in Orlando at Disney and Universal Studios, I was repeatedly struck by the massive amounts of money that those two park franchises are still making (gross) despite the current world wide "recession". Both parks were packed despite the economy and the weather (it was amazingly hot here in Florida last week).

I repeatedly found myself wondering what type of an impact the Disney brand could have on HIV research if they and their shareholders were willing to give up a single week's gate receipts or even just the parking revenue ($14/day) for a week or two. Imagine, then, if other major brands, like Coke, Pepsi, and Exxon, jumped on the band wagon and were willing to sacrifice a little of their revenue in the hopes of contributing to finding a cure....

The amount of money that private industry could raise in a short period of time would dwarf what Obama just pledged and more than make up for the shortfall he is being criticized for.

I wish I had the time and energy to dedicate to forming a foundation that would encourage (or embarrass/pressure) major companies (around the world) to pick a single day (or week) of the year and to donate their gross receipts towards that end. Not only would the results have a positive impact on research, but they would be tax deductible. Probably more could be raised in this manner much more quickly than having to wait for a meager response from the US federal government.

On the science, hope is wonderful and I have it but I also have a well used deck chair that I hope to use when the summer weather is good enough. When's there's a cure I will be first, or appropriately placed, in the queue, this is the target, but 5-10 years seems optimistic. I would love to be proved wrong.

Call me cynical, but data, not press releases or careeer ambitions of scientists, speak to me.

I know exactly how you feel, but what is inspiring about your link and others referencing Lewin's keynote address is that "A cure for HIV infection is scientifically feasible and increasingly necessary, but the goal requires focus and funding, said Sharon Lewin of Monash University in Melbourne, in a keynote address at the opening session of the AIDS 2010 conference and at a preceding workshop organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS)."

My take on the limits of research these days seems to be in getting adequate funding into the hands of the researchers who need it (not to mention the dollars needed to fund the ADAP lists). Having just spent a week in Orlando at Disney and Universal Studios, I was repeatedly struck by the massive amounts of money that those two park franchises are still making (gross) despite the current world wide "recession". Both parks were packed despite the economy and the weather (it was amazingly hot here in Florida last week).

Park tickets for 4 people for four days was over $1500 and that doesn't include the cost of parking, food, hotel, etc. (hotels in the area were completely sold out; the prices for onsite resort hotels are obscene).

I repeatedly found myself wondering what type of an impact the Disney brand could have on HIV research if they and their shareholders were willing to give up a single week's gate receipts or even just the parking revenue ($14/day) for a week or two. Imagine, then, if other major brands, like Coke, Pepsi, and Exxon, jumped on the band wagon and were willing to sacrifice a little of their revenue in the hopes of contributing to finding a cure....

The amount of money that private industry could raise in a short period of time would dwarf what Obama just pledged and more than make up for the shortfall he is being criticized for.

I wish I had the time and energy to dedicate to forming a foundation that would encourage (or embarrass/pressure) major companies (around the world) to pick a single day (or week) of the year and to donate their gross receipts towards that end. Not only would the results have a positive impact on research, but they would be tax deductible. Probably more could be raised in this manner much more quickly than having to wait for a meager response from the US federal government.

Why did you then decide to spend 4 days at Disney instead of donating the money to the cause?

The point was the tremendous amount of money that is being grossed by just those two brands even during the current global economic recession that is forcing the feds to curtail spending. Everyone seems to be upset by Obama's inability to materialize millions of dollars to address this crisis when a single day's gate at Disney could likely have a huge impact on research and/or the ADAP lists. (Heck, even the net profit on bottled water at those parks would be huge)